35 acre micro dairy

In this model, 33 acres of land are used for a microdairy for a herd of 10 jersey cows. The fresh milk is sold at £1.50/liter directly to local customers, through a delivery or farm collection scheme. The 33 acres support 10 milking cows, each with a calf and a yearling, which are sold for beef at 24 months. Each milking cow produces, on average, 6000 litres a season so the farms’ milk production is worth £90,000 per year. In addition, on average 8 yearlings are butchered and sold for beef per year, worth on average £2,000 each. Two replacements join the herd and two cull cows are butchered and sold locally for approximately £1,000 each. This makes an income from beef of £18,000 bringing the farms total income to £108,000 per year. The additional 2 acres are used for infrastructure and a dwelling.

Labour makes up 40 - 50% of the farms expenses, with fixed costs around 40 - 50%, leaving 0 - 20% as surplus. The cows are fed on hay, silage and some brought in concentrate feeds Fixed costs could be reduced by moving to a pasture based system, which would lead to lower input costs and a corresponding drop in milk yields. Alternatively, additional land could be rented to grow fodder cereals.